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City Living: Upper West Side

Ensconced between Central Park and Riverside Park, the Upper West Side area between West 90th and West 99th streets is known for its stunning architecture, plethora of food options and acclaimed schools.

This section of the UWS is stocked with long-time neighborhood establishments sharing streets with newcomers, tree-lined Brownstone blocks, and schools such as the prestigious Trinity preparatory school at 139 W. 91st St. and the historic Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School at 5 W. 93rd St.

If youre the type that likes the pre-war stock of buildings, theres no better place in the entire city, said Nick Prigo, chair of the housing committee at Community Board 7 and a local district leader. He and his wife moved from the Upper East Side to West 99th Street five years ago. Its both the feeling of living in the middle of New York City and the feel of neighborhood suburbia all in one.

Community is why the area is so nice; we can't believe how quickly we found a community here," he added. "I can't walk to the subway without running into my neighbors or people I work with on the community board."

Peter Arndtsen, district manager of the Columbus Amsterdam Business Improvement District, agreed.

"There are communities around institutions, around people that volunteer at a church or synagogue, a block association, the park they go to, the restaurant they go into," he said. "People who own dogs have their own community or who have kids of the same age. There are so many ways for people to connect here."

The area has always been known as a place where families lay down roots and remain for generations, but it also attracts college students from nearby Columbia University or City University of New York's Macaulay Honors College.

Elizabeth Caputo, chair of Community Board 7 said that there is a lot of recent development in the 90th streets in terms of restaurants.

"We've had a lot of new applications for restaurants and potential small businesses and our job is to try to make things grow," she said.

But she noted that the board has no intentions on forgetting about the long-time establishments.

"People like being able to go to a small restaurant on Amsterdam or Columbus that is off the radar, comfortable and family-run," she said. "We are trying to protect small businesses already here, especially around Amsterdam Avenue; we want to make sure they don't go out of business."

The Upper West Side 90s area is covered by the 24th Precinct at 151 W. 100th St. The area was plagued with 1,193 robbery, 1,360 burglary and 1,150 grand larceny auto complaints in 1990. Those crimes decreased significantly by 2013 with 160 robbery, 109 burglary and 42 grand larceny auto crimes reported by the precinct last year. There were nine grand larceny autos reported in the week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2 both this year and in 2013. More »

To Eat

Hunan Park

Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines are served up at this spot all for an affordable price.

Located on the most westerly end of the area, opposite Central Park, Riverside Park runs the entire Upper West Side neighborhood from W. 58th Street to W. 156th Street. An entry point at 99th Street and Riverside Drive allows visitors a scenic view of the Hudson River and a place to sit and picnic or jog in the warm months. More »